Technology Reseller v11

01732 759725 NEWS : DISTRIBUTORS 10 Rob Glaysher Heading for the slopes Westcon-Comstor has announced details of the 27th annual Westcon ski incentive, due to take place in Cervinia, Italy in March 2019. The company’s 18 top- performing channel partners will enjoy an all-expenses paid trip with first-class skiing and tuition, fine wine and dining. The incentive covers the period from April 2018 to the end of January 2019 and, for the first time in the 27-year history of the Westcon ski incentive, will include sales from across the complete Westcon portfolio, including UCC, security, infrastructure and professional services. Interested partners can register at: http:// uk.westcon.com/content/promotions/ westcon-ucc-ski-incentive-2019 Building on its close relationship with both Microsoft and Polycom, Westcon has created a complete, ‘ready to run’ Polycom Microsoft Skype Room (MSR) that combines Polycom voice and video solutions and a Microsoft Surface Pro with Polycom MSR Dock. Westcon says the five pre-configured solutions provide everything needed to extend a Skype for Business capability into any size of meeting space, from huddle rooms to large conference rooms, giving resellers a simple way to enhance customers’ Skype for Business capabilities and profit from the growth in video- conferencing. Rob Glaysher, Westcon Polycom Vendor Manager, said: “Polycom’s superb audio and video quality coupled with seamless connectivity, Skype for Business simplicity and Office 365 integration simply add up to more productive meetings and flexible collaboration. Westcon’s services and product value-add enables partners to get on with the business of improving their customers’ Skype for Business experience without the burden of unnecessary configuration, logistics or supply costs.” Westcon is part of Westcon-Comstor, a value-added global distributor of security, unified communications, network infrastructure and data centre solutions. Westcon offers pre-configured Microsoft Skype Room solutions Microsoft training Westcon-Comstor has been appointed a global Microsoft Learning Partner, enabling it to deliver Microsoft training to resellers from its network of global training facilities. Dirk Debbaut, Director, Services Solutions Training & Education at Westcon-Comstor EMEA, said: “As a global Learning Partner for Microsoft we can assist our partners meet [Microsoft training] goals and back it up with ongoing online learning and digital resources through our own Velocity programme.” Record year for CMS Storit Limited, the holding company of CMS Distribution, has announced a 38% growth in turnover for the year ending December 2017 to £447 million, up from £325 million in 2016. The acquisition and integration of TNS Group, an expert in consumer technologies, contributed to CMS Distribution’s record year and helped it to expand in the Asia Pacific region. www.cmsdistribution.com Sales director for Comstor Westcon-Comstor has appointed Leigh Howard as Sales Director UK&I for its Cisco-dedicated Comstor business. Howard is no stranger to the company, having in the past been MD of its ANZ business and a Westcon sales director. Howard said: “I aim to ensure this exceptionally talented Comstor team is the best any UK partner can work with. We’re here to advise, guide and mentor new partners wanting to invest in a Cisco business and enable existing partners to develop their Cisco capabilites.” Howard will report to newly appointed MD, Clive Hailstone. intY bucks trend on pay equality Bristol-based cloud distributor intY is bucking the trend in the IT industry by paying female staff 3% more than male employees. On average, the IT industry pays its male employees 18% more than female staff (source: Office for National Statistics). As well as pay equality for like-to-like jobs, intY has many women in senior roles; 40% of board members and 57% of the management team are female. Exertis adds core electrical products to range Exertis, a distributor of technology products for the B2B, mobile and retail markets, is to start distributing core electrical products from established and emerging vendors. The new category will sit within Exertis’ Consumer Business Unit and will be headed up by Harriet Croft who has joined from Argos where she was manager of the Small Domestic Appliance division. Liam La Cumbre, Exertis consumer commercial director, said: “Whilst core electrical is an established market, there are numerous opportunities within this sector. Our analysis of the market demonstrates that vendors and our retail customers would welcome the efficiencies, expertise and additional reach that we can provide in the distribution of these products.” Exertis will initially focus on the Small Domestic Appliance (SDA) and Electronic Personal Care (EPC) categories in a market that is estimated to be worth more than £21 billion annually (source: Retail Economics). www.exertis.co.uk CCTV camera testing made easy Nimans recently hosted an open day at its Trafford Park trade counter where it demonstrated how a new CCTV camera tester can help installers capture more business and boost productivity. The Ideal Networks SecuriTEST IP is a complete camera configuration, installation and troubleshooting solution for digital/ IP, HD coax and analogue CCTV camera systems that also creates professional test reports including screen shots to verify that a job has been completed successfully. Its 10-hour internal battery offers complete portability and the ability to power cameras without the need for external power adapters and injectors. Harriet Croft